Studying Law in Ottawa
Being a lawyer was the first job I dreamt of being as a kid. It began when my grandfather finished law school in the Philippines but was unable to practice in Canada. Instead, he shared his stories with me. Although in my final year of high school, I was conflicted between two career paths: archaeology and law. In high school, I did a co-op under Allen Wilford, whose passion for law, tireless work ethic, and conviction in advocating for the needs of his clients inspired me.
I was ecstatic (to put it mildly) and grateful for my admission to the University of Ottawa (uOttawa). I still remember the morning that I got my acceptance letter. My uOttawa law school experience did not dissapoint.
At uOttawa, I participated in a variety of different opportunities for a well-rounded law school experience. I got to improve oral advocacy and dispute resolution through participating in the Julius Alexander Isaac Moot, Richard Weiler Mediation Competition, and Nelligan O'Brien Payne First-Year Moot Court Competition. I became a Public Interest Fellow (co-recipient), Dean's Technology Fellow, Common Law Summer Student Fellow (co-recipient), and Technoship Fellow.
As an advocate for collaborative writing and sharing ideas, I committed to co-publishing on interesting questions we found in the law. I was published in Inter Alia, Ottawa Law Review Blog, and Lawyer's Daily during my studies. I joined uOttawa's law school magazine: Inter Alia as treasurer (2020-21) where I contributed a couple pieces. As an Editorial Board, we succeeded in winning a Clawbies (Canadian Law Blog Award) in 2020 under the best student projects category.
In my final year, I served as a Legal Intern with CIPPIC (Samuelson-Glushko Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic), Canada's first and only public interest technology law clinic.
I am especially grateful for the opportunity to serve as a Research Assistant to Prof. Wolfgang Alschner and conduct research at the intersection of data science and the law through quantitative legal research methods include plain language, readability measures, and Canada Energy Regulator. I was able to co-author an edited book chapter (with Prof. Alschner, Daniel D'alimonte, and Sophie Gadbois). I also presented a paper at the inaugural Emilio Binavince Student Research Colloquium on affordable housing reforms through legal policy. Through being an Assistant Editor and later Associate Editor with the Ottawa Law Review, I got to see "under the hood" of the legal scholarship process at a top Canadian law review.
As a first-generation student, I was lucky enough to receive a lot of advice and support from mentors. I believe in paying it forward through the Queer Peer Program and Allies in Law program and sat on two faculty committees.